


Ab Imo Pectore

by oneshycrow



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Anal Sex, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gentle Sex, M/M, Oral Sex, Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-03-30 22:17:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3953833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneshycrow/pseuds/oneshycrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vulpes encounters a man with wings on his back and a halo over his head who regards him in a way no one else ever has.  Their encounters send them both into an inner turmoil and it all bubbles down one day to raw feeling and a remembrance of their pasts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It’s sundown when they first meet. Jae walks calmly into Nipton, side-stepping the bodies and bones with not even a glance as he keeps his gaze ahead. The horrors of the town twist his gut and his heart and his pity goes out for all the dead, charred bodies at his feet, but mostly for the crimson-clothed men in front of him. He knows little of the Legion other than the fact that they are terrible, and this image does nothing to defend their case. 

Vulpes has his eyes fixed on the man immediately. Inculta knows a fated meeting when he sees one and the way the smoke and grime of the Mojave twist and curl around the shorter man now standing in front of him, never seeming to blemish his skin or extinguish the pure light in those dark, silky eyes, ascertains one thing – this man is a commodity.

The words exchanged are more than Vulpes is used to. This man doesn’t react with disgust or fear or even blind, righteous rage when Vulpes speaks of the purification he had enacted on the town of profligates – in fact, the man asked the reason himself. Introductions are passed. The man’s name is Jae and he is nothing more than a courier. Vulpes finds this useful. A commodity indeed. He asks that his message be passed along, expecting the man’s lack of anger or disgust to be a sign of his allegiance, or perhaps only a willingness to save his life by serving, the Legion. He’s shocked when the man’s eyes grow sad and sympathetic, and he stiffens as Jae takes a gentle step forward.

For reasons unknown to him, he allows Jae to brush his calloused fingers along his exposed arm, flinching lightly from the touch as it is seared into his skin. It is the lightest touch Vulpes has experienced, yet it scorches his skin as intensely as the brand of the bull had when it was forced upon his back, bubbling and melting his flesh immediately. Vulpes is tempted to think that, if he looked down now, he would see Jae’s fingerprints left clearly on his pale arm. 

“You don’t have to do these things.” He murmurs quietly, his words meant for them alone, and Vulpes is immediately taken aback by the kindness in the courier’s voice. Just as the touch was soft, his voice is infinitely softer. 

In moments it is over and the courier is backing away again, the look of sad sympathy on his face never fading. Jae agrees that he might pass on the word, but says nothing more as he turns to leave the way he came. Vulpes watches him go the whole way, until he turns the corner and his shape is engulfed behind the flames Vulpes himself had started. He is shaken. He’s seen many reactions to the Legions “crimes” in his lifetime, but that was never one of them. He realizes how tense his shoulders are, his hands clasped into tight fists at his sides, and he loosens his posture slowly while letting out a deep breath. He doesn’t know whether to be angry at those words or simply baffled, but he settles for a mixture between the two. 

This man is a commodity, alright. Perhaps even something more.

\- - - 

Jae doesn’t really know what to make of the Legion. 

On one hand he knows they’re the scum of the earth. The atrocities they’ve committed are some of the most horrific he’s seen – and he’s seen scalping, people worshipping mushrooms, flaming rivers, and the effect that living in the Wasteland could have on common people. Rape isn’t even the worst thing in the world anymore, but the way the Legion goes about it – goes about everything – just baffles him, truly. 

On the other hand, he knows that half of these men are following the closest thing they have to a god. He knows that life in the Wasteland is hard and it is harder even to make your own decisions. He also knows that these men most likely didn’t choose the life they have now – and it wasn’t even handed to them on a silver platter. More like it was “handed” to them as a steak would be thrown to a mangy dog – you either eat it as it is, covered in dirt and rotted away, or you starve. Jae isn’t sure that even he would rather choose to starve. 

He’s troubled by these thoughts as he walks back up the steep hill to the Mojave Outpost to deliver the news of his findings at Nipton. He hates to be the bearer of bad news, and he thinks about how to deliver it the whole trek up the path.

Jae’s calves burn and he’s pretty sure the back of his neck is as red as a Nuka Cola Victory by the time he makes it, panting, to the top of the hill. Scratch that – mountain. He reports to Ghost immediately, saddened as he tells her the fate of Nipton. He’s surprised at her curt reply that she didn’t have friends there and death happens all the time – maybe he hasn’t seen the worst that the Mojave had to offer yet. 

That night, he thinks of the man with the silken voice and the dark eyes that he’d met at Nipton. He thinks about how his skin felt so cold under his fingers, and how he could just barely see the faint outline of his eyes through the visor he wore as Jae stepped close. He smelled faintly of leather and coyote tobacco, and for some reason Jae was able to get the smell of burnt flesh out of his mind, but never that. Jae repeats his name to himself silently, whispering the word into the cool staleness of his sheets as he looks up at the stars. Vulpes. _Vulpes._

Jae wonders faintly who the man really is and what he really thinks. Beneath layers of subservience and learned violence, what was there to be found? Was there even anything left?

\- - - 

Across the Colorado, Vulpes is lying in his tent thinking just as much about Jae as Jae is about him. He drifts and out of consciousness as he continues to replay the scene in Nipton over and over in his mind. His hand lay lightly on his arm where the courier had touched, the feeling of Jae’s fingers still searing his skin as he rubs at it gently. While the touch had disturbed him it was the look in Jae’s eyes that had really made him feel unsettled. Anytime he thought about it he felt this terrible, crawling itch clamber its way up his spine and settle as a bundle of tension between his shoulder blades. No matter how much he tossed and turned that night, he had a hard time falling asleep and when he finally did it was fitful.


	2. Chapter 2

The next time Vulpes meets Jae it is the Courier’s newfound reputation that precedes the man he had become intrigued with. Perhaps obsessed would be the better word in this case, but Vulpes finds that obsession is better paired with a junkie or a love-struck woman. When Jae introduced himself as a courier back in Nipton he had thought nothing of it. He had never expected that the only man to show him a shred of kindness would be _the_ Courier. He’d heard about his travels on the radio and, if he were being truly honest with himself, he knew most of them from following the strange man anytime he had the chance. 

Jae is with a man from the NCR most often – first recon, actually – and he glows even brighter beside the broken down look of the veteran soldier who trails solemnly behind him. Vulpes is lost for a moment in his thoughts as he watches them walk through his binoculars. He needs to speak to this man again. He feels the urge in his bones enough that it keeps him awake at night as he pictures endless possibilities. Ones where he convinces Jae to work for the Legion to stand victoriously beside Vulpes and others where he takes him on as a slave to have him kneel before him. Neither seems right, and this infuriates him to no end. He doesn’t know any other way to want, to _need_. What does he want from this courier?

The wind is blowing hot against his back when Vulpes lowers his binoculars and realizes he’s lost sight of one of the men – the NCR veteran. A flash of adrenaline rushes through him and the lenses in the binoculars shatter as he slams his hands down against the jagged, sun-warmed rock he’s perched on. His knees scrape and he is furious with himself, about to go tell the others to keep a sharp lookout when he looks back up. Jae is staring right in his direction, hand held above his eyes to shield the sun that is blazing behind Vulpes’ back. Vulpes is disturbed at this and lifts up his binoculars, able to gaze through the side that isn’t shattered to see that Jae’s eyes are indeed levelled right on him. He swallows and sets them aside, climbing up onto the rock to stand and present himself to the courier in hopes of setting a challenge.

_Come and talk to me,_ it says. _Give me what you want to give. I’m interested._

There’s a moment’s hesitation at this blatant standoff. Though not violent and by far not even physical, both Jae and Vulpes feel an undeniable stir of tension in the thick, humid air of the desert evening. Vulpes infers that the Courier’s companion was dismissed for a reason and slides down from the rock with one last look over his shoulder at the man standing far below the slope.

He knows he will follow, Vulpes knew he always was one to pick the sheep. 

\- - -

He has his back turned to Jae when he hears the man’s boots crunching up the dirt trail to the top of the hill. Vulpes led him a little ways away from his camp, unsure of what they were going to be discussing. He didn’t even know what there was to discuss besides the possibility of Jae playing a role in the oncoming war. That was inevitable, Vulpes thought. The way this man gently pushed his way into people’s lives assured that he would be an important ally in the days to come. Or, possibly, a brutal enemy. Vulpes let out a shuddering breath, feeling the Courier’s warm, velvet gaze leveled on him as if he were actually trailing his fingers against the nape of his neck. 

“Vulpes.” Jae speaks softly, stopping a few feet behind him. Not nearly close enough for what Vulpes had decided he wanted to do to the man. Nights of guilt-ridden yearning and hot, irritated tossing and turning in his cot and he knew Jae wasn’t close enough for anything he’d like to do. He may never be close enough. He decides that his name sounds the most beautiful when on the tip of this man’s tongue and he wonders what other ways he could pull that word along with others from him. 

“Courier.” He says plainly, offering him a sidelong glance before turning back to examine the terrain below them as the sun sinks behind the mountains to the west. The Legion would be that sun someday. Setting in the west just as it had been rising in the east for as many years as Vulpes had been alive. But, what was setting? They were on the fence between setting meaning death or glory. Vulpes believed Jae was the catalyst for the choice between the two.

“You’ve been following me, haven’t you?” Jae says and it isn’t a question despite the rise in his gentle voice. Vulpes is astounded, perhaps a bit amused. Of course Jae knew the whole time… of course. Jae isn’t naïve despite the seemingly bottomless pool of kindness and empathy within him. Vulpes felt a spark of anger. He couldn’t figure this man out.

“I have,” Vulpes says as he takes in a breath and turns to face the man, his jaw tightening when he sees the sunset reflected in the dark well of the Courier’s eyes. They were endless, reflecting everything back to him. He felt that if he looked long enough he would be able to see every single horrible thing he’d ever done played back for him to witness outside of himself. He’s forced to look away with an impatient curl of his lip and a barely held back snarl. This was becoming too much. 

“I’ve reconsidered your offer.” Jae murmurs with a hint of empathetic sorrow in his voice. He isn’t looking Vulpes in the eye anymore, perhaps noticing the discomfort it caused the taller man. Vulpes breath gets caught in his throat at his excitement and he perks up. Maybe this won’t lead to trouble after all. He takes a single step closer.

“And? Caesar would be glad to have you. I’ve seen you fight and I’ve seen you negotiate, he’d recognize your value.” Vulpes says, unable to help the chatter that babbles from his lips. He isn’t sure why he’s so excited. He doesn’t like complicated matters that he can’t figure out. If Jae was Legion then... well it would solve part of the problem. He stares Jae right in the eyes and narrows his own, seeing the forever apologetic look in them whenever the two seem to be near. 

Jae shakes his head and offers up a quiet smile that says a thousand times more than he would ever be willing to. The meaning behind that expression hits Vulpes like a fist to the gut and once again he finds it difficult to breathe.

“I won’t join the Legion, but I won’t stop you either. I only want to help people, but I’m not taking sides. Whatever happens will happen according to fate, not according to me.” He states boldly, a certain amount of strength flashing in his eyes. Jae is determined, Vulpes will give him that, but the statement muddles his thoughts of the Courier even more. The radio makes him out to be a hero, a saint, yet he’s willing to step back and allow the Legion to plow through the Mojave if they’re able? He couldn’t find the reasoning behind that and it heightened his anger even more. He stepped forward, his fists clenching at his sides as he stood over Jae, close enough that their chests almost touched.

“Soon even the ones who don’t take sides will be enemies of the Legion. This is my last offer. You can help people through us. Don’t you want to save these mindless degenerates? I’ve seen you help junkies and whores only for them to go back to their vices as soon as you leave. You can purify anything with our flag and there will be nothing left of what we take together. Don’t make a fool of yourself, Jae.” Vulpes may have sounded a bit desperate. Desperate for what, he wasn’t even sure. Jae kicks around in the sand with the toe of his boot, crossing his arms in front of him. For some reason this feels like a goodbye, though they didn’t even have a relationship to lose in the first place. Vulpes has to keep reminding himself of this when Jae reaches out to him and holds him in a gentle embrace. His slim arms slide around Vulpes’ neck and Vulpes feels as Jae’s breath puffs hot against the side of his neck. He stiffens, swallowing heavily and not knowing what to do under this type of touch. 

“I can’t. I wish you the best, not the Legion, but you. Not your ideals, but the poor men who have to follow them. I’m so sorry, Vulpes. You don’t deserve this.” His voice is soft but the meaning of his words is infinitely softer. Vulpes feels like breaking down in this man’s arms would be less of a crime then he is used to it being. He wants to hold him tight and bury his face in his soft black hair and breathe in the smell of dust and the simple clean scent of Jae. He wants Jae to be his in every way possible – more than a slave, but he isn’t capable of that and for the first time in his life it hurts.

He does the only thing he knows how to do, hold his machete to Jae’s throat and push him away. There isn’t even a look of surprise or hurt in Jae’s eyes, only understanding. This man has gotten under his skin. He’s pried out Vulpes’ darkest fears, secrets, and insecurities without any difficulty. For the first time in his life, Vulpes is being torn apart.


	3. Chapter 3

Vulpes is unable to rid himself of his intrusive thoughts of Jae for what seems like weeks after their last encounter. His mind has never been so unclear, so filled with thoughts of… what even was it? Obsession? Hatred? Lust?

...Love?

He can’t handle it anymore. His mind is unravelling, his heart is beginning to change. Not for better or for worse… but into something just outright entirely different. Even his fellow Legionnaires were noticing a change in him. He wasn’t sleeping well so his orders were more erratic - he was commanding by lashing out, his normally carefully hidden and almost nonexistent emotions bubbling forward and making his movements unpredictable and reckless.

His nerves are completely shot and his heart feels as if it were being split in half. Every waking and sleeping moment filled only with thoughts of the Courier beneath him; naked and wanting, panting with the desperate need to have Vulpes on him. In him.

He can no longer take it. He’d come to terms now with the fact that he wanted the Courier for himself. He no longer cared if he pledged himself loyal to the Legion - only to Vulpes. He wanted, no, needed to see him again. Alone.

Vulpes goes to Caesar after a particularly rough night of trying to fight away those thoughts, proposing a plan for himself to go undercover and finally get the Courier on their side. Caesar agrees of course. Vulpes is his best strategist, his most reliable pair of eyes outside the Fort. Vulpes just hopes Caesar won’t ever see what he’s planning on doing.

Vulpes knows the Courier has a home in Novac. For a split second he’s jealous, wondering if he lives there to be closer to the ex NCR sniper he’d had tailing him around the Mojave. 

Beneath his disguise of a trader, Vulpes sneers, reaching into his jacket to feel the warm handle of the hidden 10mm pistol he had on him. He looks ahead, barely being able to make out the shape of the dinosaur’s head past the heat-blurred mountains. He’s almost there, and if the sniper is there when he arrives… he doesn’t know if he’d be capable of shooting him with Jae around.

He doesn’t know if he’s capable of anything anymore.

\- - -  
Vulpes stops before the door to the Courier’s motel room, a flicker of anxiety in his stomach. He hasn’t doubted himself in years, not since he was a boy, and now he feels as if he’s at the beginning of a crossroad. He doesn’t know which way to go and he can’t see the end of either choice, all he knows is he can’t ever go back to the way things were.

He listens a long while for any signs of movement or conversation, but as far as he can tell the room is empty or the Courier is asleep. The lights are dim and the curtains drawn. It’s almost midnight, meaning the sniper was most likely still in his nest and wouldn’t be back until daybreak at least.

Vulpes has plenty of time. Time for what, he doesn’t know.

He takes a breath and knocks ever so lightly on the door, comforted and a little put-off as he slips his free hand inside his coat pocket to feel his gun. The knock rings loud through the empty courtyard. Vulpes is tense. It’s a few minutes before he hears the slight shuffle of feet on the other side of the door, followed by a series of latches unlocking.

“Hello?” He hears the Courier’s soft, sleep-ridden voice and the door opens slowly. Vulpes grabs the edge of it, holding it back before the Courier could make out his face entirely. He peeks in and confirms for his safety that, yes, it is Jae. His hair is messy from sleep and he’s looking very confused as to why someone would be calling on him so late at night.

Vulpes doesn’t know what to say and simply stands there leaning against the door as Jae tries to give it another push to open it fully. Vulpes allows him some room to look out and see him. He’s never been this lost for words before, but he had also never been out of the Fort on… personal business.

“Let me in,” is what he settles with, taking off his sunglasses for Jae to recognize him. Jae’s eyes widen with shock and he steps back a bit.

“O-Oh. Yeah, alright.” He mumbles, opening the door and stepping aside for Vulpes. “Come in.”

Vulpes takes a hesitant step inside and glances around the dim and frankly dingy room. Literally, almost filthy, there’s clutter everywhere - clothes and armor on the ground, stacks of books and medical supplies spilling off the shelves, papers cluttering the desk and almost every other surface. The bed is messy with one itchy looking sheet and a bundled up sweater for a pillow. He can’t deny he hadn’t pictured confronting the Courier in his home many times before this, but he has to admit he imagined it looking much more immaculate. This is nothing better than a Freeside hovel, minus the chems and hookers of course. Why is someone as important as Jae living in such a simple abode?

Jae closes the door behind them and locks it again, causing Vulpes to turn back. There’s about eight different kinds of latches and sliders on the door. He had also never taken Jae for the paranoid type. How much is he hiding? How much do Vegas’ paparazzi and Caesar’s spies not know about?

Jae turns back to him with a look of confusion clouding his eyes. Beneath it, though, is that same soft look of… something that makes Vulpes’ spine tingle. He takes off his coat, completely forgetting about the gun in its pocket as he lays it over a chair. He brushes himself off slowly while Jae watches with piqued curiosity. Why was he here? Why wasn’t he speaking yet? Vulpes cleared his throat.

“Do you have anything to drink?”


	4. Chapter 4

Vulpes and Jae sit at the table in silence barely touching their lukewarm bottles of Nuka Cola. Jae continues to glance up at Vulpes from across the table, his vague look of nervousness growing more apparent the longer Vulpes stayed silent. Jae finally breaks the silence halfway through his soft drink, his lips pulling away from his thoroughly chewed-on straw.

“Are you going to ask me to join the Legion again?” He runs his finger along the bottle as he speaks, wiping away the thick layer of dust that had collected there from years of it sitting untouched on a shelf. This piques Vulpes’ interest a bit more and he leans forward slightly, lacing his fingers together on the table.

“Should I?” He levels his stare at the Courier. Perhaps this will be easier than he thought.

Jae narrows his eyes and stares at a brown stain on the wall behind Vulpes as he lets out a thoughtful hum. He won’t meet his stare, he just won’t. He hadn’t been able to get his thoughts off of him for weeks. He can’t sleep, he can’t think straight. He knows exactly what he’s feeling toward Vulpes, but the only thing he can’t figure out is why?

Jae’s prolonged silence makes Vulpes twitchy and he struggles to hide it. He grips the edge of the table. The slight warmth from Jae’s leg so close to his own is sending shockwaves through his body. He’s so confused and trying to keep his cool seems to only make him even more on edge.

“Answer me.” He practically hisses, stomping his trembling foot down hard on the broken linoleum. Jae’s fucking beautiful eyes focus on him again and Vulpes just absolutely cannot help himself any longer. He stand abruptly, lunging forward past the table to grab Jae by the arms and shove him up against the wall behind them. His eyes burn with the beginning of tears and his stomach is in knots. 

A sharp gasp gets pushed out of Jae as he’s shoved against the wall, his hands instinctively coming up to wrap around Vulpes’ wrists. He doesn’t push away, he just stops, waits, and watches. Vulpes is almost sobbing on him now and this comes as a shock even to Jae. 

“What is it that you want, Courier?” Vulpes spits, fighting back the tears and the shaking as he glares at the man before him. Jae’s face is covered with confusion and it’s the first time Vulpes has seen anything but confidence in his eyes. He stays silent, their eyes locked in a quiet battle, and when Jae opens his mouth to speak Vulpes lowers the hand that was held back just a second before in an attempt at assault and instead reaches forward and clutches the thin fabric of Jae’s shirt. 

“You.” Jae all but whispers, a slight break in his soft, soft voice. 

Vulpes sobs and once he starts he just can’t stop. Years of emotions held back behind the stone wall of his now cracking heart, decades of unfulfilled desires chained back by his allegiance to Caesar, his whole life spent trying to bury anything that made him his own man - everything spills forward all at once, and for what reason? For some man Vulpes isn’t sure he even knows? For lust? For love? He is so ashamed with himself. 

Jae’s arms almost instinctively wrap around Vulpes. He pulls him close in a firm embrace and his heart begins ricocheting like a stray bullet in his chest. This is dangerous and crazy, but it just feels right. As he stands there holding Vulpes, whispering gentle thoughts into his ear and stroking the nape of his neck he feels more at peace than he has in a long, long time.

Vulpes gives in and lets Jae embrace him and they stay that way for a few moments, two silent figures clinging to each other in the dim, fluorescent lighting. Their time together is going to be brief, this Vulpes knows for a fact, but he cannot bring himself to move away and disturb the peace that had settled around them. It’s Jae who moves away first, holding Vulpes’ shoulders while he pulls away to look at his face.

“You’re a dedicated man.” Jae says softly, his voice like a sigh. “I know I’m not enough to stop you from going back to them.” Vulpes wants to deny it, wants to say that he could learn to love, wants to promise he could learn to live without the Legion. He doesn’t make false promises, and he will never say something he doesn’t mean. He is Legion, through and through, and though not a bull by birth he has more of a right to the title than half of the children the slaves push out. He cannot, will not, betray Caesar’s cause.   
Jae leans in and kisses the side of his neck. “What are you doing?” Vulpes demands, pulling away with a look of uneasiness on his face. It’s not disgust, Jae notices, which is a good sign.

Vulpes just stares him down, his expression losing all the composure and grace it had once had as more tears begin to mark out paths of clean, pale skin through the dust smudged on his face. Jae looks at him and reaches out gently, trying to get him to understand. In thoughts and words they will never agree, but Jae knows another way to this man’s heart.

“Trust in me, Vulpes.” His voice is soft and he reaches up to brush away a tear from the side of his face. “Why did you really come here?”

Vulpes falters at that, the heat that had been ever present in his stomach since the day they’d met burning more fiercely than before. He’s conflicted with himself for wanting so badly, but he’s here. This is the end of the crossroad. Vulpes may now be a horrible degenerate by Caesar’s standards because of Jae, but he can never be a quitter. He will see this through to the end.

He wants to know Jae and that brings about a burning desire to leisure in the ways of the dissolute. He’s a man of deliberation, a man of reason, and if he can convince himself that what he wants to do in the next few hours of the night is for a greater cause… well, then he can do whatever he wishes.

He grabs Jae’s shoulder then pulls him aside and shoves him face first onto the bed. Jae lets out a surprised shout and fights back, shoving Vulpes off of him.

“Um, no!? What are you doing?” He snaps, turning to sit on the bed and glare up at him. Vulpes is confused and stops midway through unclasping his belt.

“Giving you what you want. Turn around.” He nudges Jae’s shoulder again and is met with total resistance. Did he misinterpret his intentions? Did Jae not feel the same way? Jae takes a slow breath, trying to keep his composure. Of course Vulpes doesn’t know what to do, it should have been obvious. He will have to learn.

He reaches up to Vulpes, grabbing his leg and pulling him close. He can see the rivets on his belt and the shiny golden Aureus acting as his buckle. Jae has to hold back a small laugh. Even under cover Vulpes wears something of the Legion. He runs his hands along Vulpes’ dusty jeans, a burning ache slowly spreading in the pit of his stomach.

“Go slow.” He whispers, lightly wetting his dry lips in anticipation. “Be gentle.” He coaxes Vulpes to unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants. He can tell he’s uncomfortable with this, as Jae stands and begins to unclasp his armor too.

“Everything… everything doesn’t need to come off.” Vulpes insists, his hands raising to stop Jae at his buttoned shirt. Jae stops, instead running his palms along the fabric. He gives Vulpes a warm smile, his heart fluttering at the show of fragility.

“That’s okay, too.” Jae murmurs, taking his own shirt off and tossing it to the side. He resumes roaming his hands along Vulpes’ body, letting them slide down to his hips and begin to tug gently at his jeans. “Do you want to leave these on?”

Vulpes glances away. “I’ll remove them.” He says, completely unused to the feeling of undressing in front of someone in this way. He’d never removed any article of clothing during sex, and he couldn’t fathom the reason why he should when he could access what he needed without doing so. But, Jae said to trust in him. Vulpes would give him the benefit of doubt. 

Jae pulls back and Vulpes reaches down to his jeans, slowly sliding them off and stepping out of them. He can feel the flush on his face. Embarrassment is an emotion he’s never gotten used to. Jae’s intense stare makes him hot and cold at the same time, makes his fingers numb and the hair on the back of his neck raise and prickle in an almost annoying way. He wants to take him right then and there, but he also wants to run away and never feel something this impassioned again. Every nerve in his body is alight and agitated, aching for the first touch. 

“The t-shirt remains on, but I’ll allow you to touch me.” Vulpes takes in a shallow, trembling breath while reaching up to unbutton his overshirt, his eyes never leaving Jae’s face. The sharp curve of his jawline contrasts with the soft roundness of his lips, tinged a dusty pink and scattered in anxious bitemarks. He wants to taste him. Wants to leave his own mark on the map of this man’s skin. 

As soon as Vulpes lowers his hands, Jae’s immediately begin to roam, starting along the pale, fuzzy skin of his thighs and working their way up to his navel. Vulpes sucks in an incredibly sharp breath, goosebumps dancing all over his body. He’d never been touched before, whispers a thought distant in his mind. Any further thoughts are quickly drowned out by a numbing sensation of pleasure when Jae’s hands slip further up and under his t-shirt to run over the small of his back. His hands are rougher than Vulpes anticipated they’d be; warm and calloused, grabbing and stroking all the right places on his body - places Vulpes had never dreamed would feel so good.

“Is this okay?” Jae murmurs, standing up to slide his hands further along Vulpes’ sharp shoulder blades. His eyes are endless, and Vulpes once again finds himself getting lost in their depth. He doesn’t quite know what he’s doing as he embraces Jae, one hand at the small of his back and the other cradling the curve of the man’s jaw. He strokes his thumb along the stubbled skin, not even realizing how close he’d gotten until the tips of their noses brush. He can see every detail at this length; the dark circles beneath Jae’s brown eyes, the week-old nicks left along his cheeks by a too-dull razor, and the thick star-shaped scar tissue left just above his right eyebrow. 

Despite all the scars this cruel world had left on him, he remained pure. Untarnished by hate, greed, and lust; this man is an anomaly, and the fact that he is allowing someone like Vulpes to hold him so close…

With his eyes closed, Vulpes leans in and claims his lips in a deep kiss. Jae’s mouth is warm and soft despite being chapped, and the subtle scent and taste of his skin is enough to drive Vulpes entirely mad.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt on the fallout kink meme: http://newfalloutkinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/1168.html?thread=89488#cmt89488
> 
> Ab Imo Pectore means literally "from the deepest chest" or better as "from the bottom of my heart", "with deepest affection", "sincerely" etc.


End file.
